1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a rail vehicle undercarriage according to the preamble of the first claim.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known rail vehicle undercarriage of this type (DE 37 25 574 A1) is realized in the form of a two-axle bogie. Both wheels of each wheel pair are arranged on a common wheel axle. The wheel bearing of each wheel is realized in a two-armed fashion and respectively carries two spring elements arranged symmetrically referred to the wheel axle and elastic in the longitudinal and the transverse direction. One respective arm of the bogie frame is respectively supported on two spring elements. The longitudinally and transversally elastic spring elements form the primary spring suspension, whereas secondary spring elements arranged on the bogie frame serve for supporting an assigned vehicle body. A steering rod is respectively coupled in a pivoted fashion to the individual wheel carriers in coupling points. In this case, the respective steering rods essentially extend toward the centre of the corresponding longitudinal beam of the bogie frame in the running direction of the wheels. These ends of the steering rods are coupled in a pivoted fashion to the opposite ends of a two-armed steering lever in coupling points. The two-armed steering lever is supported in a pivoted fashion in its centre point on an axle that extends transversally to the running direction of the wheels. The length of the steering rods is chosen such that the two-armed steering lever extends approximately vertical when driving on a straight track. With this arrangement it is intended to realize that, with a simple wheelset coupling controlled independently of the vehicle body, an automatic radial adjustment of the wheel axles in curves and, simultaneously, a superior stability at high speeds is achieved, and the longitudinal forces resulting from acceleration or deceleration manoeuvres are transmitted from the wheel pairs onto the undercarriage in a reactionless fashion.
A rail vehicle undercarriage with an arrangement for stabilizing the rail vehicle course at high speeds is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,871. In this undercarriage, the steering rods are directly coupled to the load bearing implement in order to realize the turning movements of the wheel pairs. The steering rods are arranged trapezoidally in the horizontal plane such that the axial displacement of the wheel pairs caused by the tracking forces while driving through a curve results in an adjustment that is directed opposite to the radial curve adjustment and intended to stabilize the rail vehicle.